Robert Leckie | |
---|---|
Born |
Glasgow, Scotland |
16 April 1890
Died | 31 March 1975 Ottawa, Canada |
(aged 84)
Allegiance | United Kingdom Canada |
Service/branch |
Royal Navy (1915–18) Royal Air Force (1918–42) Royal Canadian Air Force (1942–47) |
Years of service | 1915–47 |
Rank | Air Marshal |
Commands held |
Chief of the Air Staff (1943–47) RAF Mediterranean (1938–40) RAF Hendon (1933–35) RAF Pembroke Dock (1931–33) No. 210 Squadron (1931–33) RAF Bircham Newton (1929–31) No. 1 Wing RCAF (1919) No. 228 Squadron (1918–19) |
Battles/wars |
First World War Second World War |
Awards |
Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Distinguished Service Cross Distinguished Flying Cross Canadian Forces Decoration Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland) |
Air Marshal Robert Leckie, CB, DSO, DSC, DFC, CD (16 April 1890 – 31 March 1975) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force and Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1944 to 1947.
Leckie learned to fly in Toronto and joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1915. During the First World War he flew anti-submarine patrols over the North Sea. Flying a Curtiss H12 flying boat on reconnaissance, Leckie downed the German zeppelin L22 near Terschelling on 14 May 1917. Fifteen months later, during a nighttime raid on 6 August 1918, a German zeppelin formation under the command of Führer der Luftschiffe (FdL.) (Admiral, 2nd class) Peter Strasser attacked Boston, Lincolnshire, Norwich, and the Humber estuary. Flying in a DH.4 biplane, Major Egbert Cadbury (pilot) and Leckie (gunner) took part in the interception engagement and were credited with downing Zeppelin L70 just north of Wells-next-the-Sea on the Norfolk coast.FdL. Strasser, head of the Imperial German Navy's zeppelin forces, was on board L70 and did not survive. By the end of the war, Leckie was a wing commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF).